What is next for Jeremy Clarkson and Diddly Squat? Restaurant closure appeals and ITV bosses axe

While the next season of ITV’s ‘Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?’ will be Jeremy Clarkson’s last, the former Top Gear host is pressing on with his mission to open a restaurant at Diddly Squat farm.

ITV bosses confirmed that even though Jeremy has not been cancelled contrary to earlier reports, this season of the game show is his last in a contract and stated there are ‘no future commitments’ in the works, despite his infamous Meghan Markle column causing a media firestorm.

Jeremy cleared up the confusion by Tweeting: "So many kind messages about today’s reports. But relax. Lisa and I have not split up and I have not been sacked as host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire."

Fans were relieved to hear that the broadcaster had not broken up with Lisa Hogan, a star of his Amazon Prime series 'Clarkson's Farm', after reports had also indicated the pair were taking a break.

With an ITV-shaped hole in Jeremy Clarkson’s future at present and with Lisa by his side, PeopleWorld queried what could be next for the 62-year-old, including his resolute plans to open a restaurant on his Cotswolds farm.

Jeremy’s initial plans to open an eatery with local produce at Diddly Squat, adjacent to the hugely popular farm shop, were made known through his Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm - with viewers watching and condemning how the West Oxfordshire District Council had rejected planning permissions.

Even though Jeremy ended up opening a small restaurant at the end of the second season, the WODC submitted a closure notice for the premises just a month after its opening and the Grand Tour presenter tweeted how he no longer wished for a restaurant. 

However, Jeremy has now appealed the closure notice in a huge U-turn, confirmed by Conservative member of the Oxfordshire County Council, Liam Walker on Twitter.

Both Jeremy and ‘cheerful Charlie’ in the Amazon Prime series were filmed having to ‘jump through loopholes’ to try and make not only the restaurant come to fruition but also to build a car park for the farm shop to stop people parking on the roads.

The appeals filed by Jeremy are due to be discussed in a hearing this month.

In addition to Jeremy’s future having several more local council trips to try and resurrect the Diddly Squat restaurant and car park, Jeremy may set his eyes on trying to grow his Cotswolds ‘heaven’ into a larger business such as his inspiration Daylesford Organic.

Daylesford Organic is another Cotswolds-based deli-farm shop that served as inspiration for Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop in season one, after he visited in episode three to pick up ingredients for his ploughman’s lunch, which cost a total of £83.44.

Owned by Carole Bamford (the wife of JCB billionaire Anthony), the organic farm shop has grown to having their produce sold in places like Selfridge’s and has established a franchise across London, with celebrities including David Beckham shopping there.

So although Jeremy Clarkson may not have any current plans for ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ after the season that is currently in production, if he can successfully appeal WDOC’s closure notice and continue his blossoming business that supports local farmers, he could match Carole Bamford’s franchise that had £27 million of assets in 2022.